Inducted 2016 – Significant Contributor
With over five decades of motorsports journalism and public relations excellence, Sid Priddle has contributed to the success of many of this country’s most popular road racing events and many of its top drivers. He has earned the respect of peers, journalists, promoters, drivers and team owners on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
On the public relations front, Sid has headed up the communications efforts on behalf of the title sponsor and the event at more than 14 Canadian Grands Prix, 10 Molson Indy Toronto events, 10 Molson Indy Vancouver events, and five Edmonton Indys. Through his association with those events — and directly on his behalf of drivers — he has sprearheaded PR campaigns involving at least 15 drivers that are now in CMHF, including Gilles Villeneuve, Bill Brack, Mario and Michael Andretti, Greg Moore and Paul Tracy.
In addition to his public relations role at the Toronto and Vancouver events, he led their consumer marketing efforts that were responsible for “putting bums in seats.” Both events enjoyed massive record crowds while he was at the helm, averaging more than 150,000 per weekend, and annually ranking them near the top in attendance for all IndyCar events across the continent. His PR work on the first five Edmonton Indys helped to make it an immediate success locally, and resulted in strong coverage across Canada. He’s the only Canadian — and one of the few PR people — to have been selected by CART Series title sponsor PPG, as on fo the sport’s “Most Colourful People” (1995).